


Love makes liars of us all

by laughinginthebreeze



Category: The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Angst, Character Death Fix, F/M, Fluff and Humor, Mystery, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-08
Updated: 2015-08-13
Packaged: 2018-03-21 22:55:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,891
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3706787
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/laughinginthebreeze/pseuds/laughinginthebreeze
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stefan Salvatore has a secret he will take to the grave. And Matt is about to find out that love makes liars of us all...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

People were very strange.

Vampires were even stranger.

It was just an observation Matt had made over the years. Well, of course _vampires_ were strange; they drank people's _blood_ for crying out loud, but Matt didn't find that the weirdest thing about them.

The strangest thing he found about vampires, was how similar they were to humans, despite their obnoxious ability to ruin everyone's lives. They tried to insinuate themselves into normality, invade people's lives, for whatever reason, until they shattered everything around them.

Hell, some of them had been doing it for decades, so Matt didn't even know why they bothered anymore.

For example, Sarah Salvatore.

Vampires were already ruining her life from the moment she was born and she didn't even know it. Stefan Salvatore, although he means well for her safety, merely getting involved from a safe distance meant signing her death sentence.

"You don't find it the least bit strange that they just up and left?" Enzo interrupted Matt's train of thought, glaring suspiciously at the door Sarah and Stefan had left through.

"I told you she's his family. If they want to talk, let them talk. Why the hell do you care?"

"Because I care about the truth, care about authenticity." Enzo narrowed his eyes, keeping them trained on the wall opposite.

"Or you just hate Stefan."

"I do actually, yeah. He abandoned his brother, turned me over to a vampire hunter, and he hurt the one girl who can honestly do no wrong." Enzo snapped. The intensity behind his words shocked Matt a little. He really meant every word, must have really cared about Damon and Caroline, more than Matt had given him credit for.

"That's not why I care, no. I care because he does all that and is still considered a hero when I get stuck being a villain." He continued bitterly.

"Yeah, because you kill people." Matt pointed out bluntly. He may have felt sorry for Enzo, but there was no excusing his behaviour. "What, and Stefan doesn't? Come on. You and I both know that's not true. I'm just up front about it, but Stefan, no, who knows what he's done?" Enzo took another sip of his drink, still on a roll. "He's just a liar with a little box of secrets. Come on, Mush. Let's open the box." He smirked.

In response, mainly because he had no retort left, Matt stood up and left, pondering over the weight of Enzo's words. Stefan had never been very open about himself, his experiences, so who knew what he had done? Who knew what he was capable of? Either no one willing to tell, or no one alive to tell. The 'Ripper of Monterey' was responsible for that.

So yes, Matt decided. Stefan Salvatore had a lot of secrets.

**~X~**

They were both standing by Stefan's car when he found them.

On the edge of the road, far too calm and quiet for his liking. He honked at them, just as Sarah started walking away from Stefan, looking relatively unharmed, then hopped out of the truck, eagerly making his way over to her. It was then, with a shock, Matt found he genuinely cared about Sarah's welfare. Not just because of her family history, or because of pity, but because of _her_.

Of course he should have suspected that _that_ wouldn't last very long.

"Hey! You okay?" Matt asked her. Sarah looked at him blankly.

"Who are you?"

Matt felt as though his stomach had caved in. "You compelled her? Why?" He asked Stefan, as he struggled to keep his temper down.

"She's not my family, she's a con artist, and I'm just trying to get rid of her." Stefan argued, before turning to Sarah. Matt once again felt the pervading sense of secrecy, something Stefan was hiding.

"Get out of here."

Sarah pushed past Matt, walking away as though in a daze, when all of a sudden Enzo was in front of her.

"Aah! What the hell?" She shrieked as he grabbed her.

"No screaming, love, and don't move." Enzo commanded. Sarah instantly froze, and Matt felt panic surge up inside him.

"Enzo, what are you doing?" He demanded through gritted teeth. Enzo, in response, turned Sarah around so she was facing them, pulling her back against him.

"I want the whole story, the one not obscured by the dulcet tones of a blender." Enzo snarled, gripping the girl tighter.

"I told you she's a con artist. There is no Sarah Salvatore. That baby died when Damon killed her mom." Stefan replied tersely.

Even Matt could tell that was a lie.

"Then why listen to this one babble on for twenty minutes? Why whisk her away to speak privately, hmm? Why wipe her memory, Stefan?" Enzo brushed the hair back from Sarah's shoulders, exposing more of her neck, a gleam of realisation in his eyes. "She knows something." "Come on. Don't do this. Just let her go." Stefan said, body tense with unspoken emotion, yet he _still_ didn't make a move towards Enzo. He was stronger than him, right? Matt seethed angrily. _Why wasn't he doing anything?_

"See? He's digging in. Can always spot a liar. How about a countdown? That's fair for everyone, right?" Enzo continued. "Five seconds. Four...three..."

Matt stepped forward, almost without thinking. He couldn't let Sarah die. "Enzo, let her go, or I swear-"

"You'll what?" Enzo looked completely unfazed, which drove Matt's fury even more.

"I will kill you." He said, making every enunciation clear.

Enzo cocked his head to the side, then gripped a whimpering Sarah's neck. "Will you? Because Stefan's five seconds are up." And he snapped her neck. Just like that. That's how long it took for a human to die in Mystic Falls. One second made all the difference.

"No!" Matt yelled as she slumped to the ground.

Stefan suddenly grabbed Matt's arms. It was only then that Matt realised, through a haze of rage, that he'd been advancing towards Enzo with the full intent to kill him.

"Don't be stupid. Don't be stupid." Stefan hissed as Matt struggled, tears forming in his eyes as he looked at the dead girl on the ground.

Enzo, however, looked unaffected, maybe even a little amused. And that was what made Matt all the more bitterly angry."Just think. All of this could have been avoided if you'd have just told the truth." He shrugged. "No matter. I'll find out sooner or later."

In the blink of an eye, for a human at least, he was gone.

Matt wordlessly wrestled out of Stefan's grip, and ran over to Sarah, picking her lifeless body up. Stefan helped, silently grabbing her more effortlessly, and placing her into the trunk of Matt's truck. He sighed, slowly turning to face Matt, as though scared of the consequences.

"Look. I'm sorry that Enzo killed her. He's-"

"A monster. Yeah, I know, but you could have stopped him, and you didn't." Matt knew he sounded bitter and hateful, but he didn't care.

"What, you think that was easy for me, watching an innocent girl die?" Stefan snapped.

"I don't know actually." Matt retorted. "You're not exactly the sharing type."

"Matt, I promise you that everything I do I have thought out over and over, making sure it's the right thing to do." Stefan frowned.

Matt folded his arms, letting the anger explode out of him. "So we're just supposed to trust that you know best?" He should have closed his mouth, but the resentment was boiling over.

"No. You're supposed to trust that I'm nothing like Enzo." Stefan shot back, looking annoyed.

Matt smiled a sad smile. "The problem is you are." You all are. "Because no matter how close vampires get to humans, our lives will always mean less, so when push comes to shove, we'll be on opposite sides, which is what Tripp knew and I didn't."

And with that, Matt got into his truck and drove off, watching as Stefan's figure slowly became a shadowy smudge. It was only then that he realised, since Sarah had been a con artist, that he would never know her real name.

Stefan was definetly a lot more like Enzo than he thought he was.

**~X~**

Matt was still annoyed the next day. Burying an innocent girl, yet another victim in a vampires twisted scheme...how long would this last?

He'd eventually packed and gone to Whitmore to visit Caroline and Elena, needing to get away, clear his head. He even got a part-time job at a cafe, cleaning up after closing time to help distract him. It almost worked.

Except that all got thrown to the wind when Stefan walked through the door.

There was a tense silence in the atmosphere between them, and Matt briefly wondered if he could make a run for it, when Stefan cleared his throat and spoke first.

"Look," Stefan started, approaching Matt. "You were right. Humans and vampires, we're always gonna be on opposite sides. But it doesn't mean that you're not important to vampires as well."

Matt shook his head, still not in the mood to forgive. "But you still kill us, you manipulate us, use us. We may be important to you, but you still ruin us. Me, Jeremy, Elena, Alaric, we've all died at least once because of vampires."

"Yeah, but not because of me. I've never killed any of you guys, at least not directly."

Matt shot him a skeptical look. "That may be so, but no offence, if you and Damon hadn't come into our lives, a lot of us humans would still be living a normal life."

Stefan shrugged. "What can I say? Yes, I have killed humans, but unlike Enzo, _I don't enjoy doing it._ Most of the time, I've been compelled, or had my emotions turned off, and even then the guilt cripples me. Both good and bad people have suffered because of vampires, and regardless, they don't deserve it."

"Yeah, but it doesn't bring them back. It doesn't bring Sarah back." Matt went back to cleaning the table, avoiding Stefan's eye.

"Well, what if I told you that not everyone died? What if Sarah Salvatore wasn't the only secret I kept from Damon and the others?" Stefan smirked.

Now Matt was confused. The conversation had gone darker. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that Sarah," Stefan smirked. "or the real Sarah, isn't the only one who Damon thinks is dead. I've tricked him more than once you know."

"Well, who is it?" Matt must have still looked as dubious as he sounded because Stefan pulled a notebook out of his pocket and started scrawling something down on it. He tore out the page and gave it to Matt.

"Go to this address in Bulgaria. Then you'll see what I'm talking about." He pulled out his wallet and threw some notes on the table at Matt, who was still trying to sort through the surprises unloaded suddenly onto him in his head.

"Go on," he prodded. "I'd take it. You're the only one I've told, trusted this with, don't make me regret it."

Matt stared in astonishment at him for a moment, his gut twisting in turmoil. Instinct was telling him not to go, but did he really want to pass up on knowing what exactly Stefan wanted to hide, even from his own brother?

Curiosity overrode instinct, and he took the piece of paper and money, leaving to pack a bag and get a taxi to the airport before he could change his mind.

**~X~**

"We're here. Twenty dollars fare." The taxi driver grumbled in a thick accent, waking Matt out of his light snooze. He jolted upright, apologising, handing over what he thought was way too much money, before getting out and looking up at the house, or villa, really.

It looked lush and inviting, despite having a slightly creepy demeanour, even from the outside. Plants and vines creeped over the walls, although the house could only possibly be a few years old, judging from the fresh paint work. The garden wasn't too shabby either; green, healthy grass covered the lawn surrounding the house, which was slightly overshadowed by the branches of some sort of tree growing nearby. There was even a path leading up to the door, which for some reason was about six feet wide. Matt slowly approached the house, looking around cautiously, a natural instinct to be constantly on the look out for supernatural creatures overpowering him.

It was almost a relief to be knocking on the door; it meant no more secrets, lies, hidden agendas, things Matt had long since grown sick of.

One minute passed, then two, with no one answering the door. Matt suspected they weren't in, but Stefan had implied that whoever this was would be, would likely be at the house.

Impatience was setting in, and he irritably scrolled through his phone, ready to call Stefan and demand some answers from the vampire, when the door finally clicked open, and Matt finally came face to face with Stefan Salvatore's biggest secret.

And whoever, or whatever he had been expecting, it was definetly not this. _This_ he could never have seen coming.

" _Y-you_!" Matt stuttered, feeling the colour drain from his face in horror. Had Stefan tricked him? Was this all a ploy to get him out of the way? Questions whirled in his mind in a blind panic as he stumbled back, phone slipping from slack and sweaty fingers, the man descending silently towards him.

"But-but you're supposed to be dead-" He was cut off by a sharp blow to the head, sending pain exploding through his skull and knocking him hard to the ground, the metallic taste of blood sour in his mouth. He couldn't see anything but blurred colours swimming together, and he felt too immobolised to move.

The last thing he remembered was his bag being ripped from his shoulder as he dropped into darkness, the stain of betrayal, shock and fear still heavily imprinted in his mind.


	2. Chapter 2

Darkness erupted in Matt's vision. Swirls of dark patterns darted beneath his eyelids as he drifted in and out of consciousness.

"...well done, genius, you knocked him out!"

 _Elena?_ Matt pondered, wondering if his injury was causing him to imagaine her voice, twisted and bitter.

"Well _sorry,_ I was afraid he'd run off and tell someone. You know how loyal he is to that Scooby gang. What was Stefan thinking?" A man, he sounded so familiar. Matt squeezed his eyes tighter, groaning as a fresh wave of pain rolled through his head.

"What were _you_ thinking?"

"...I was just..."

"Great. You've given him concussion...idiot." Someone else had grabbed his face, tilting him up. Another horrible headache throbbed in his skull again, he tried to pull away, but he was so tired, so, so tired, that he couldn't resist when his mouth was pried open, when hot coppery liquid was poured down his throat, washing away the pain, restoring his strength even as he choked on the horrid, bitter taste.

Strength restored, he finally managed to peel his eyes open, and cough feebly, cringing and flinching back as the light above seared his eyes.

"Hello, Matt? Matt, can you hear me?" A foreign female voice. Something hovered at the back of his mind; a memory, one he couldn't quite place.

He groaned in response, sitting up. Suddenly, with a horrible jolt, the memory of earlier hit him like a tsunami; Stefan sending him to Bulgaria, being greeted by one of the only people he never expected to see again, getting knocked out.

Swallowing in fear at the memory, Matt leaned back against the couch he was on, looking up at his unfamiliar surroundings, meeting the gazes of everyone in the room.

Katherine. Nadia. Amara. Another Stefan look-a-like, presumably the one Enzo had 'killed', Tom Avery.

Last of all, Silas, who had bashed him over the head with a pole upon arrival.

All alive. Right in front of him. Completely unharmed.

"Hello, Matt. Long time, no see." Katherine smirked.

All he could do was stare at them in horror and wish that the ground would swallow him up.

**-X-**

It was a very long and complicated story.

How each of them became a part of the intricately twisted and cleverly crafted plan that Stefan Salvatore had created.

"It started with us." Silas said, indicating him and Amara as Tom pushed a glass of much needed wine into his hands.

"He could have killed me, but he didn't. Instead he offered us money to pretend we were buried in a shallow grave whilst really we were on our way to a villa in Bulgaria that Stefan had paid for in advance. For whatever reason, he kept us alive." Silas explained.

"But-but Elena said she saw your body. And Amara killed herself." Matt stated, still shocked.

Amara waved her hand. "Simple illusions. I stabbed myself, pretended to die, but I had been fed vampire blood, so Damon thought I was dead, and Stefan stabbed Silas, made it look believable, when really I only had an inch deep wound that the vampire blood healed up."

Matt nodded, trying to digest this information. "And then what, because I'm pretty sure Katherine died of old age-and _you_ -" he pointed a finger shakily at Nadia, a silent rage burning inside him at the sight of her. "I saw you die, I _buried_ you, I _mourned_ you, so start talking."

Silas' lips twitched, as though he were trying not to smile, and even Katherine looked impressed at Matt's sudden bravado.

"Well, what Elena saw was me and Amara lying in a makeshift grave, and Stefan standing above us holding a shovel, distracting Elena with some seriously hilarious guilt-tripping." Silas replied.

"And, as for me," Katherine interjected, I really _was_ dying of old age, before you accuse me of lying. But, in order to save me, I had to temporarily jump into Elena's body. Fortunetly, Silas was able to perform a spell to reverse the effects of ageing on my comatose body, add some vampire blood, and Stefan 'killing' me, I'm a vampire again." She shrugged.

"Okay," Matt breathed out through his nose. "So you three are vampires," he nodded at Tom, Katherine and Nadia. "And, Nadia-"

"Tyler bit me, which wasn't part of the plan, so Stefan gave Katherine some of Klaus' old blood, whilst I was put under a dessication spell to slow the effects and make it look as though I was dead." Nadia looked slightly guilty. Good. Matt was glad. Out of all his girlfriends, she had broken him the most. "After you buried me, Stefan and Katherine dug me up and gave me the blood."

Matt took several gulps of the wine to clear his head. Or to muddle it further, he didn't know which.

"And, um, Caroline said you died." He said to Tom, who seemed the most mildest of everyone. "Enzo killed you in front of her. She was horrified."

"Yeah, uh, I don't know what really happened, but I woke up a vampire with my look alike teaching me blood-lust control and then shipping me off abroad." Tom shrugged, looking at Katherine, who took the hint.

"Basically, we knew there had to be another doppelgänger of Silas, because of Elena. So we used a locator spell, tracked Tom down. He'd been kidnapped by a witch, so we had to wait a few days until Caroline and Enzo went looking for him, before we gave him vampire blood. So when Enzo killed him-"

"He became a vampire. Yeah, okay. I got it." Matt blew out slowly. Everything was suddenly so _complicated_. How had he gotten embroiled in this?

Silas frowned at him. "Look, we're just trying to survive. Like you, like everyone else. And because Stefan's trusting you, we're trusting you too."

Matt gaped at him, mind still whirling. He had to get out of here. He owed nothing to these people. Most had tried to kill him on occasion, and he didn't think Elena quite deserved _this_. Maybe Damon did, but it was just _wrong._ He couldn't believe that Stefan had gone this far.

"Sorry, I-I gotta go." He stood up and headed towards the door.

"Wait!" They all hurried after him.

"You won't say anything will you?"

"Someone stop him!" That was Silas.

Nadia sped in front of him, arms open in a silent plea.

"Please don't say anything Matt, I don't want to compel you-"

"But you will. To get your way. And that's why I don't want to get involved." Matt said shortly.

Nadia's face softened, her eyes pleading. "I'm sorry. Really, I am. Look, the last flight to America's gone, so stay just for tonight. Think it through. We won't compel you. I swear."

Matt sighed. He supposed there was no harm in staying for a night. It wasn't like he was agreeing to help them or anything. It was only for Nadia. And besides, he had nowhere else but the airport to sleep.

"Fine. One night. But I still won't help you. Or Stefan." Everyone seemed to relax slightly in relief as Matt grabbed his bag and hurried up the stairs, Nadia right behind him, wishing he was somewhere else.

Only tomorrow would tell, but Matt was starting to wish he'd listened to his instincts rather than his instatiable curiosity.


	3. Chapter 3

Meaningless lies drip from his tongue. Stolen eyes vacate his face and the arrogance of the one who made him lurks in his soul.

This had been easier than expected.

The way they lapped up his lies, the way they believed that _sweet, loving,_ Stefan Salvatore would _never_ hurt his precious Elena, would _never_ plot to ruin his brother's life, would _never_ betray them.

They were all idiots.

Stefan Salvatore is not who he thought he was. Stefan Salvatore isn't the hero of this story. Not anymore.

He's the villain.

**~X~**

The vengeful seed is first planted after Elena sleeps with his brother.

Always there, lurking in the back of his mind, merely an urge to make them pay for so selfishly hurting him despite everything he had sacrificed for them.

He had considered switching off his humanity, shutting off the pain, but that was just too _easy._ Too easy for him to fall apart, lose control, and forget his vendetta. And Stefan doesn't want Damon and Elena to have it easy. Sure, he doesn't want them dead, that would be too kind, and besides, he wasn't _that_ overdramatic.

He just wanted them to feel the pain of betrayal, love lost, and the burden of knowing when sacrifices had been for nothing.

To feel every _sickening_ day watching them together, nurturing the seed until it grew into a poisonous flower.

The first part of his plan was easy. He would pretend to smile through the pain, help everyone, shrug it all away as the pieces of his plan came together.

 _Revenge is always a dish best served cold._ his father says. The only lesson he ever learnt from him, that he took to heart when he ripped out his throat.

They will never see him coming.

 

**~X~**

 

It started with Silas.

Admittingly, the man had thrown him off course, unexpectedly and completely into insanity, but it only fueled him further. And, as hateful as he was about his doppelgänger, the witch had a sweet taste for revenge, he had to give him that, and besides, he inspired far more loyalty towards Stefan than Damon ever could.

In the end, the loneliness was what had destroyed him, not the safe. And they had done that to him.

_"Remember me? I remember you." Stefan hissed through clenched teeth, his fingers clenched around his doppelgängers throat. Rage blazed, before purpose set in._

_"I'm sorry, is it hard to breathe? Is your throat closing? Did the fear of dying start to creep in yet?" The nightmare flashed before his eyes, a reluctant horror._

_Suddenly, pain shot through his skull, sharp and terrifying. Of course Silas wasn't going down without a fight._

_"I hear every emotion is heightened for a vampire. All those memories must be eating you alive right now, Stefan. What's it like to die? I've never done it. You must have done it a thousand times over the summer." Silas growled, straightening against the tree._

_Stefan grunted in pain, clenching his fists into the ground, reminding himself not to end Silas right there and then. "Stop it!"_

_"Stop it? I've spent two thousand years alone in a tomb. You were locked up for what? Three months? Look at you! You're a mess. The safe was the easy part, wasn't it? Being forgotten about, that's the real torture, isn't it?"_

_Beneath Silas' sadistic smirk, there was something that Stefan could relate to. He knew it. He knew why Silas had made him suffer. And that's what made what came next easier._

_He fumbled through the pain, grabbing the knife, glinting on the floor and throwing it with a precise and careful vampiric aim-_

_Imbedding it in Silas' left shoulder._

_He gasped in pain, slumping against the tree, breaths shuddering and choked, eyes widening as he realised that he was still alive. Amara, having untangled herself from her binds, stumbled towards them._

_"Silas!" She choked out, falling next to him, white as a sheet. Silas absently grabbed her hand, staring at Stefan in shock._

_"What are you doing?"_

_"Saving your life, okay with that, are you?" Stefan didn't wait for an answer, and marched over to them, yanking the blade out of Silas' shoulder._

_"Get up if you want this to all be over." He motioned at them, before grabbing a shovel, using vamp speed to dig a shallow grave._

_"Lay against that tree. Pretend to be dead. Quick." He hissed impatiently at Silas. He could hear Damon and Elena calling for him._

_"What-" Silas seemed set to argue, but Amara tugged him towards the tree without a word, whispering at him in hushed tones, before he finally lay down and closed his eyes, completely still. Amara moved to follow, but Stefan stopped her._

_"Wait." He fed her his blood, enough to prolong her life after a serious injury, muffling her surprised shriek, then handed her the knife, looking into her eyes and compelling her, just in case. "Pretend to be sad about his death, say your eternity with him is just beginning. Stab yourself a few inches deep when you hear Damon or Elena coming, then pretend to be dead. I'll heal you." Stefan whispered, watching her walk over to a still Silas. Two thousand years trapped as a stone statue had paid off._

_He ran off further down the woods, hiding behind a tree, watching as Damon found Amara as she stabbed herself, his cries of horror as she slumped into his arms, spewing back out his blood, and his pleas to stay with him, despite thinking it was too late._

_"Let me die." Amara whispered, before going still and quiet in his brother's arms._

_She really was a convincing actress._

_Damon shook her repeatedly, making sure she was dead, before getting up and heading to the Boarding House, his face a mask of shock and horror, shoulders hunched, presumably to find the others. He didn't have much time._

_Stefan hurried over to Silas and Amara, pulling them to their feet, and dragging them wordlessly over to the shallow grave he had dug, and motioned for them to close his eyes, before the others came to find him. He couldn't risk being overheard._

_Not a second later, he heard Elena running into the clearing. Just the sight of her made his chest hurt, made him feel empty inside, like he was worthless. She stopped when she saw him, taking in a deep breath at the sight of Silas in his grave and Amara motionless on the floor._

_"Stefan? What happened-"_

_"I killed him. Then she killed herself before me and Damon could stop her." He said, staring down at their still bodies, making sure his voice trembled slightly with hidden shock._

_"So, he's dead. It's over." Elena stated, sounding dubious._

_"Yeah, it's over."  
_

_"Are you okay?" She asked cautiously._

_"I'm fine." He replied tersely._

_Elena wouldn't let up. "Look at me and tell me that killing Silas worked. That you'll be okay now."_

_"Why is this so important to you?" Stefan turned around, glaring at her in annoyance. Why couldn't she just leave him alone?_

_"Because I know how much he stole from you!" Elena stated, as though that were meant to explain everything.  
_

_"Yeah, and he's dead." He retorted._

_"And because while you were suffering in that safe, grasping onto hope, fighting every second so you wouldn't lose your humanity... I was happy." He hated her just then for that little self-righteous speech, more than anything, more than he thought he had hated her, and the realisation seemed to choke him._

_"I got everything that I wanted, Stefan. I got to be in love, I got the summer of my dreams, I got Bonnie back. So I need to know that this worked. I need to know that it's gonna take away all your suffering. I need to know that you're gonna be okay." She said, in that slightly patronising tone that made everything about her._

_Stefan inwardly rolled his eyes. Why did she bother? It wasn't as if she really cared, she just wanted to clear her conscience._

_Now he needed to sell his pain, make them suffer with the only lie that seemed close to the truth. "I wanted it to be you. When that safe finally opened and somebody found me... I wanted it to be you."_

_He could see Damon behind her, edging closer with a guilty look on his face._

_"I wanted it to be both of you." He relished in the shame on their faces._

_He probably took far more pleasure in her and Damon's expressions then they should, but his speech had the desired effect. They left, awkwardly edging away with hushed whispers as he glared at them._

_There was a scrabbling sound; Silas was climbing out of his makeshift grave, helping Amara up, both brushing dirt off their clothes._

_"Why did you do that?" Silas finally asked the question Stefan had been expecting, as Stefan fed Amara more of his blood as a precaution. He smiled, before pulling out his wallet and stuffing it into the stunned witch's hands._

_"You're my secret weapon, if you like. The secret to undoing everything Damon Salvatore has worked for." Stefan smirked, pulling out a notepad and scribbling an address onto it, before tearing it out and giving it to him._

_"Go to this address, I own it. Just pretend to be me if anyone asks."_

_"I-thank you." Silas says, still looking completely dumbfounded. Too dumbfounded to really question why Stefan was willing to ruin his own brother._

_Then he smirked, his true colours flaring again. "I'm impressed, shadow self. You're almost just like me. I clearly underestimated you."_

_It wasn't quite an apology, Stefan supposed, but it was a start._

_They left then, their figures so reminiscent of him and Elena it was almost painful to watch, but when Silas glanced back at him with an almost smile-and Stefan couldn't help but think,a sort of begrudging respect, he knew that no matter what, this was worth it._

_There was no going back now._

 

**~X~**

 

Katherine is next.

She's the one Damon and Elena hate the most, so he thinks, why not.

A fitting betrayal.

It was easy enough, falling back into her charming, seducing old ways, just like before. She's the person he's been looking for.

She's easier to win over. He tells her everything. Doesn't even think twice about it. He pretends to be plagued by nightmares in the safe that almost ruined him. He lets her get too close. They sleep together. He tells her about his plan, she tells him she's slowly dying. He burns inside.

It was far too easy to convince her to love him.

Helping her fake her death was even easier.

The body jump had been his idea. Because he wanted to start his revenge on Elena Gilbert early, and who was he to care how he did it?

It was easy really. He was the one who gets Silas to heal her body, so when she was found out, she survived and rose again. As a vampire.

_"You're sure this will work?" Katherine asked dubiously over her dead body, a hint of disgust in the stolen face of Elena Gilbert._

_Silas sighed impatiently. "Of_ course _I'm sure. As long as you don't become a permanent passenger in your little shadow's head, there's no reason I can't return you to your perfectly healthy body again." He gestured to her soulless body upon the floor, attached to all kinds of machinery, keeling it breathing, keeping it alive, feeding vampire blood through the tubes into her system._

_She sniffed delicately, and Stefan smiled at the sight._

_"Here's the blood from Klaus I promised you. It's old, but it'll work." Stefan handed Katherine. "Keep it safe. Remember not to administer it to Nadia until after the desiccation spell is performed. You know what to look for."_

Everything, down to the traveler knife clutched in his hand, over her daughter's body, was planned to the last detail. Faking her death was simple enough; she had done it so many times that this one was a cinch. And whilst she set her sights on ruining everyone's lives, stirring up trouble, providing the perfect cover to his deceit with her deception, he was using the opportunity to put the last part of his plan together.

_"Stefan," she whispered, and he fought to keep his face blank. Because even temporarily killing her had become the most difficult thing he had to do. "You have to admit, that for one fleeting moment, that your feelings were real." Fury, passion, terror, love, oh yes they had something._

_He didn't say anything, played the part well, as she pressed a soft kiss against his mouth, the first and last of many to come, before he stabbed her, a mix of relief and regret, as she lay there and died, next to her dessicated daughter's body, her spirit returning to her now fully healed doppelganger body, courtesy of Silas, but not before leaving Elena with a little present to find in the form of a ripper virus._

_He thinks he loves her just for that._

_With one last kiss and a bid farewell, she was off to her home country, her daughter in tow along with Silas and Amara, and the one overpowering thing he felt was relief._

_He was glad he hadn't really killed her._

_He was glad she hadn't really died._

_"I love you, Stefan." She whispered against his ear. "We will be together again." Words he had also heard from so long ago, words he wasn't supposed to remember, coat his memory, filling him with hope and rigged on his long gone icy heart._

Yes _, he thinks, watching her walk away, the promise of so much more to come on her lips, and the art of deception on her soul._

Yes we will.

 

**~X~**

 

Then came Tom Avery.

A crucial survival tactic in a war he never knew he was a part of.

He was a little trickier than the others. Born blind to the supernatural world and more human than the rest, he had no knowledge of vampires and witches, of doppelgängers and witches.

If everyone believed he was dead, the travelers would perform the spell, but it wouldn't work the desired effect. It wouldn't go as far, and it wouldn't be very strong, but the doppelgängers would be protected because they were needed. Damon, Elena, well, with luck they'd be dead before the day was out, but Stefan needed his secrets for more than just protection.

They were his secret weapons.

He feels bad, a touch of guilt flitting through his stomach in a moment of weakness when he thinks of Caroline, quiet and tears in her eyes as she recalls the moment Enzo hit the killing blow.

He'll tell her, just not yet. Not until he's sure she's willing to leave behind the life she's always known, the friends who leave her out and the vampire who abused her.

She deserves to be happy.

_The witch was in a trance when he found the house._

_Eyes white, blank and unseeing, there was no way he and Katherine were getting in there so long as her heart beat, so Silas and Amara did it for them, whilst Stefan was in the angry snare of the travelers, tracking the man he already knew existed._

_It was too dangerous to communicate, since Sloan had stolen his phone, so they had to wait for Caroline and Enzo to leave, so Silas could perform a locators spell on them so they could give him the blood within a day of Caroline finding him._

_Caroline eventually came back, pale-faced and telling him Enzo killed Tom (how fitting, he'd known Caroline would never kill an innocent man) and everything fell into place._

_After several more tracking spells, he tracked the body to the outskirts of Atlanta._

_The body wasn't in the grave it was supposed to be in, a mass of dirt replaced it._

_The blood and the screams led him to some small town three miles away-nothing to a vampire. He found the body of a young girl in a dumpster, (everyone's found in dumpsters) not long dead. She seemed to be the only one._

_He found his doppelgänger not far from there, huddled in the back of an alleyway, drying blood matting his clothes and face, shell-shocked, completely unmoving. When Stefan touched his shoulder, he jerked back, looking up at him. His eyes widened in horror, and he crawled away backwards, trying to escape, before Stefan sped over to him, grabbing him by the shoulders to stop him from getting away._

_"Who are you-oh my God-you-you-how do you look liked me?" Tom gabbled, a frightened expression on his face, reminiscent of Elena meeting Katherine for the first time._

_"I can help you. Just calm down." He grabbed Tom's shoulders before he could leave, letting his fangs drop, his thick, hungry veins crawl beneath his eyes. Tom relaxed a little, though remained in his huddled position on the floor, watching Stefan warily._

_"You're a vampire now. You need to learn to control yourself, and I can help you." He offered a hand to Tom, who reluctantly took it, and yanked him to his feet._

_"Firstly, you need to know how to blend in with society again." He held up the daylight ring Silas had made. "This will allow you to walk in the sun. Never take it off." He slid it into Tom's finger before he could argue._

_"Secondly, snatch, eat erase." Stefan said, easing him out of the alleyway._

_"Control is everything."_

_He taught him everything there was to know, about vampires, doppelgängers, the reason for his existence, even handed him a presentation Caroline had made just for precaution, and took him to the others, leaving him in their care._

_The last piece of advice he gave them before he died was, "Be prepared for whatever happens next."_

**~X~**

He dies. His heart is ripped out in right in front of him, but it's exactly what he expected.

The Other Side was being destroyed because he had messed with the travelers spell, and he wound up in the heart of it all.

Then he meets Lexi again, and tells her why he's doing what he's done, and what's going to happen next.

With her help, he pretends to be Silas. He knows the spell, he had it memorised in case such a situation as this ever occurred.

Everyone was so busy worrying about his death they never realised that he had died in the same outfit that Silas supposedly had.

And because he knows that Bonnie would betray him, he also pretends to get sucked into Oblivion. And since Lexi is there, she saves him again.

Then he survives and rises again.

But Damon doesn't.

And he is sad, he does mourn Damon, because he hadn't wanted him _dead,_ he just wanted him to suffer, and he had thwarted his plans.

He had ruined his ability to love.

So he has to move away, hurt Caroline in every way imaginable so he can remind himself that in the long run he is also doing this in part for her.

Then Damon comes back and ruins everything again.

And in doing so, sets his plan right back into motion.

 

**~X~**

 

He tells Matt everything.

He doesn't know exactly why, but it may be to do with the fact that he thinks Matt deserves the truth where it's never been given.

Besides, he thinks that he was good for Nadia. And if Nadia is happy, then so is Katherine.

When he sends Matt to Bulgaria to uncover the truth, he doesn't know what's going to happen. Whether he'll help them and keep Stefan's greatest secret; or if he'll betray them all.

And as for what happens next, well, only time will tell.


End file.
